Story Challenge Update (3)

Here is the second installment of my story for the Story Challenge... still haven't come up with a name for it yet. To see the full context of the story, click here. For those of you who think that this has nothing to do with apologetics, it will -- I promise... But you'll have to wait and see how that all comes about! ;) Please let me know what you all think about the story so far.... Enjoy!
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The soft ring of the phone jarred Mrs. Buckham from her work. Rising from her desk chair, she headed for the phone. The answering system was about to pick up... "Hi, Mom. It's me... Are you there? I really need to talk..." Click. "Hi, how are you, Natalie?" her mother said in her gentle voice. "I'm, uh, okay, I guess. It's just that, well, I've got a new job," Natalie said, letting the statement linger in the air. Her mother didn't answer, but waited for Natalie to continue; she could tell that Natalie wasn't too happy about this new position. Natalie recalled the situation for her mother.... After her silent prayer, Natalie had reluctantly swung open the big executive's door. Upon entering, she had been kindly greeted by Mr. Neuman, who was sitting behind his desk in a huge recliner chair: "Please come in, Natalie," he had said looking up from his papers, as he peared over his glasses. "Chloe, could you please step out for a minute?" he had asked his secretary. "I have a special assignment for you, Natalie. You are my best staff-worker; you have a great attitude about everything that you do, and that cheerfullness rubs off of you onto others. You've really brightened this place up... which is why I have this new assignment for you. I know someone who needs some "brightening up" -- one of our clients. Our staff has tried to build a relationship with him, so that we can better work with him, but he is a stubborn fellow. Doesn't know the Lord, poor man." "So, what do you want me to do?" asked Natalie. "Right. I'm going to have you check in with him every day, and by 'check' I don't mean just a small poke-your-head-in-on-him type of thing; no, we need someone who will monitor him almost twenty-four seven. He's sick, but not critically ill; he's actually very independent, but I think he wears himself out doing things that he shouldn't to prove to everyone that he can. I'd like you to help him out with things like that, so that he can heal -- we have given him some medicine, but that medicine can't work unless he relaxes his body first. We will need you to keep him supplied with this medicine, as well." "Why do you think that I'm the person for this job?" Natalie inquired. She wasn't feeling especially confident right now. "Because I believe that your cheerful personality can really affect him positively." "How can you be so sure?" she asked. "Natalie, you have the Holy Spirit; He will help you. This man does not know the Lord like you do. Remember, our mission isn't just to give each person out there a 'quick-fix'; we want to give them their spiritual medicine, as well. I know that you have the tools to do that." Natalie wanted to argue her case; sure she was usually an outgoing person, but something like this didn't sound like much fun to her. In fact, she was very nervous. Couldn't someone else do it? But before she could say another word about it, Mr. Neuman handed her a slip of paper with an address. "You start tomorrow morning at eight. And remember, if you need anything, you know where to find me. You can do it," he said winking at her. "Oh, and, Natalie, this is a 'top-secret' mission, okay? No one must know." Natalie sensed that the conversation was over so she had headed out to her car and called her mother. Her mother had always been so supportive of her efforts, and she always had good advise and a listening ear. "So what are you so concerned about?" her mother asked, "It sounds like a really great opportunity." "Yeah... but, I'm nervous. All of these 'What-ifs' keep bombarding my mind... I'm not sure if I really have what it takes..." "Natalie," her mother said softly, "you have the Holy Spirit; He will guide you. He is all you need. He has equipped you with 'all things that pertain to life and godliness' and He promised to lead you and guide you into all truth. Don't give up; you have ALL that it takes."

Comments

  1. The Other AliceWednesday, February 24, 2010 at 10:36:00 PM EST

    How neat! This is really sounding like an awesome story. :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFriday, March 5, 2010 at 5:33:00 PM EST

    Very nice, Miss S! I love the way you interrupted the phone call like that... it makes it VERY interesting! :D

    ReplyDelete

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